The Twilight Sad

8 May 2009 - Congress Theater, Chicago

To say the Twlight Sad’s songs are intense would be a drastic understatement. The heartbreak is on the level of Shakespearean proportions. But while the band is clearly one of the most emotional out there in terms of songwriting, they don’t fit into any emo genre. It’s true that the Scottish quartet paint images of kids on fire in bedrooms (“That Summer At Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy”) and explore the drunken mind (“And She Would Darken the Memory”), but the bleakness of the lyrics is backed by a turbulent sound that touches on shoegaze at times.

Like the disarming lyrics, the delivery of lead singer James Graham’s vocals—both on record and live—has an intensity that is matched by very few. He caresses the microphone gently, but by the end of each set you feel as though he’s confided some of his deepest and darkest thoughts and experiences. There’s no calming peace as the music behind Graham builds to loud heights. The feeling of conflict in the air is augmented with Graham’s frantic drumming done on his knees to create a crashing effect. Despite this, the crucial element of what holds the songs together never fully dissolves and each climax seems a necessary conclusion.

What’s most surprising is the level of accomplishment in the songs. Most bands struggle through their first few albums to create something as completely alive as the Twilight Sad’s only full length to date Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters and still many never quite make an album this devastating. Likewise, it’s an unusual experience to witness something this honest live and the effect is truly memorable.